Wally discreetly rolled his shoulder as the teacher talked about multiplication, a subject Wally already understood and committed to memory. The memory of last night entered his mind; the jitterbug jams taste still lingering on his tongue as well as the soreness of popping his shoulder in his escape. But that only reminded him he needed to formulate a plan to steal the jam. Getting to the top shelf wasn't the problem but rather his father seeing him pushing the chair to the counter. The only chair tall enough to help him was in the unused dining room which one had to pass the living room to get to where his father would no doubt be holed up in. But perhaps his father would have the late shift like last week. Little Wally nearly held his breathe in hope as the rest of the school day continued.
Wally walked through door to see a man of large stature sitting deeply sunken onto the pseudo-leather couch. His hopes went unanswred. That just means he would have to do without the chair. A determined look grew in his eyes as he silently marched into kitchen and directly in front of the cabinet.
Not for the first time Wally really noticed how tiny he really was. He was small for his size he realized; 4/5 of the class was bigger than him; he did the math with ease about a week ago as the teacher droned on about grammar. But he never really cursed it before now; his size always allowed him to hide the places his father couldn't reach or didn't bother to look in. Now however as he looked upwards he really wished he had hit his growth spurt like his mother said he should have soon.
Then again Wally always did enjoy a challage. So another determined looked was given to the top shelf hidden behind wooden doors. Small pale hands reached to the edge of the cheaply lamented countertop and with a hard tug Wally had half his torse lying across the surface. Swinging his legs he gave a final swish and the rubber soles of the left sneker gave enough friction to haul the rest of himself onto the counter. A satisfied smirk reached his lips as he balanced himself to walk to the correct cabinet. Grabbing onto the shiny nobb, the door swung open slowly with a light squeak. Wally froze and swallowed a lump in his throat as he turned around. No one stood in the entry way to indicate the noise was heard, but they boy stood still for a moment longer until he was sure no footsteps were coming into the kitchen. Once more Wally swallowed the growing lump in his throat as small fingers reached out to grab the strawberry jam. The glass jar was cool to the touch as he grasped on to it and set it gently onto the counter without a sound. Just as silently the cabinet door was closed and Wally began to slide off the counter top. Rubber soles touched the ground just in time to hear another set of footsteps making a slow walk to the kitchen. Green eyes widened and Wally quickly stashed the jam into the lower cabinet behind him; he should be able to retrieve it later when his father left for work.
The red haired man walked into the room. "What are you doing in here? Don't you have school?"
Wally shook his head looking up to meet the brown eyes of Rudolph west. "No, daddy. It ended thirty minutes ago."
Wally received a grunt as Rudolph shifted contents in the fridge. Green eyes watched as the large man pulled out a container holding last night's supper; a silent relief that it was not alcohol. Finally the man took notice of the small boy's figure still standing as still as possibly. "Well, don't you have homework or something?"
A surprised look crossed the boy's face but he pointed to the small pile of work books sitting on the counter none the less.
"Well… yeah, get to work on that."
Wally nodded quickly and made the short trek over the tile floor to pick up the books. He was given a small grunt of approval from his father as he turned toward the microwave. Taking the opportunity to escape without further conversation, he tucked the books under his arm and walked up the stairs.
Four pages of homework later, Wally heard the distinct yell of his father's voice. "Going to work." With that the door closed with an echoing click of the lock.
The red head bounced off his bed sending the objects closest to the edge flying in the air only to fall with a dull thud on the wooden floor. Ignoring the items, he made his way to the stairs before pausing to strain his ears listening for any sound of human life. None. Still he silently padded down the stairs, checking his back every other step.
He jumped the final two steps and landed with deep thunk that shook the ground nearby. A smile erupted when no one shouted at the noise and quickly he ran to the lower cabin. His smile grew larger as tiny hands wrapped around the cool glass. But before his happiness could take full bloom, he realized his task was no yet complete. He held the jar tightly and with careful steps he traveled to his room.
He crawled under the bed placing the jar so it was well hidden in the shadows. With renewed joy Wally bounced back onto his bed and stared at the ceiling waiting for the sun to run behind the horizon.
Wally's mother was late from the office again; she received the brunt of Rudolph's drunken words, but only words. Wally watched from the top of the stairs crouched around the corner, deciding if it was time to intervene yet. Fortunately the beers hadn't taken full affect yet, so instead of continuing his verbal lashing he slunk off to the living room to watch his shows.
Mary West backed up to the closest wall and leaned her slumped shoulders against the white surface. Her curled brown hair brushed the wall as she turned her head toward the stairs. A faint smile tugged desperately at her lips as she pushed off the wall and held out her arms to her son. Quickly, albeit silently, Wally bound down the steps and sprung into his mother's arms as she leaned down to his level.
"Come on. It's late. Bed time," she whispered not moving from the hug.
"Mommy?" He climbed up the stairs using both hands and feet.
"Yes, Wallace."
"I love you." Both stopped in front of his closed bed room door.
A sad smile grew on her face as tears welled at the corner of her eyes. Her bottom lip quivered for a moment before finally bending down to hug her child close. "So does your father, Wallace. Oh, Wallace, so does he."
Wally felt some wetness hit the exposed skin of neck before he heard the sniffling. Before the small child could react she stood abruptly gently pushing away his small body. "Come now. It's bed time. Good night, Wallace." She placed a small peck on the top his red mane before ushering him inside the dark room, barely lit by a Flash nightlight.
Wally stood silently in the middle of his room with a confused look plastered to his face. Finally the wrinkles of thought disappeared as he left out a sigh. "I love you, too, Wallace."
He sat dangling his feet over the edge of the bed waiting until he was sure his father would not come looking for him. Still hearing the faint joyous yells of a game show host, Wally knew he was safe and slide under the bed. He rested on his stomach and reached out for the jam jar pushing it so he could rest his chin on the lid. He hummed to himself a small ditty he was unsure where it was picked up from. The tune continued as he waited for his friend to come join him for a night time snack.
A few minutes into his wait, a faint growl emitted from his stomach. His face scrunched as he rolled onto his back. Once settled his lifted his shirt and poked his belly which returned the gesture with what was now a growing roar. Green eyes turned to look at the jar sitting on the floor; it was almost begging to be opened so that its contents maybe emptied. So Wally obliged the object its request and unscrewed the metal top. No sooner was his finger dipped into the jam did a bright light shine onto his face. His eyes widened at look towards the light source, only then did he see a silhouette of a round face topped with pointed horns. Slowly he removed his finger and put it into his mouth licking off the sticky spread. Childish laughter burst out between the two.
A/N: I've got to say… normally I'm not exactly the most proud of my works… But this just came into my mind so well and unforced… But yeah! So um… Wally's parents… Rudy isn't as violent this chapter. I can easily see him as a violent man (judging from my research and the few clips I've seen of him in comics) but I say he would be mostly awkward and stand offish from Wally unless he was pushed (or in other words drunk or just really pissed (and not necessarily at Wally)). So yeah… he kinda chilled out this chapter. Then Wally's mom… Ha had you doing there for awhile, huh? You thought she was ganna be Wally's stable point, didn't cha? Yeah, I'm evil! But the reason why? Once again based on research and the much more limited clips of her. I could just see her being that distraught unstable kinda person that seem normal on the outside. But I may be wrong XD if you think so feel free to correct me and let me in on your thoughts on the subject of his parents! Seriously, please do! I may have missed something big in my research! But anyway! So is it just me or did you want to hug Wally to death after his mommy left? I really do feel god-awful about that T^T But I'd like to think the cute little jam scene under the bed made up for it, right? Nah, nothing could make up for that cruelty to this beloved character XD Now I must attack the new Assassin's Creed! So please do leave a comment or review for it makes me do a happy dance and squeal like a little girl that just found out her crush likes her XD